Hawkins to be inducted into Hall of Fame

By Scott Cousins - scousins@thetelegraph.com

Madison County Board Member Helen Hawkins, D-Granite City, holds an old project map for the East Side Levee and Sanitary District. Hawkins was one of three new appointees to the Metro East Sanitary District board at a Madison County Board meeting last year. Hawkins is to be inducted into the Illinois Senior Citizen Hall of Fame in February.

Scott Cousins | The Telegraph

EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County Board Member Helen Hawkins will be inducted into the Illinois Senior Citizen Hall of Fame during a ceremony set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7 in the Madison County Board Room.

Hawkins, 89, was nominated by several people, including Madison County Board Member Tom McRae, R-Bethalto, and state Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton.

McRae described her as a “humanitarian,” a “pioneer for human rights,” a “community leader” and a “true public servant.”

In addition to her time on the County Board, she is also Nameoki Township Clerk, and served a short stint on the Metro East Sanitary District board last year before being reappointed to her County Board seat.

“Helen Hawkins has always been an outstanding citizen and consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty,” Haine said. “While she has been committed to our area for several decades, her work serving the communities in the American Bottoms during the chronic flooding has been especially exemplary and we will forever be thankful for her service.”

Hawkins is most well-known for her involvement in those flooding issues, something she has been dealing with since moving to the Dobrey Slough area in Nameoki Township in 1964.

Hawkins’ official involvement began when the late Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed her to a committee working on storm outlet plans in and around Horseshoe Lake and the American Bottoms, the lowest point in Madison County.

At the time flooding and stormwater issues were the venue of the East Side Levee and Sanitary District, which was dissolved by voters in favor of the Metro East Sanitary District in the mid-1970s, in part because of Hawkins’ involvement in the issue.

The East Side Levee District was known for corruption, and MESD was known for its role in the political patronage system, but Hawkins said last summer there have been great improvements over the years.

“Helen is a humanitarian,” McRae’s nominating letter stated. “She is an adoptive mother of two children who she raised while helping her husband build a successful small business. Despite her busy schedule she found time to serve her community volunteering in her church, for veteran’s organizations and for handicapped children.”

It went on to describer her as a “true public servant.”

“Party affiliation has never gotten in the way of Helen’s desire to serve and she has been asked by both Republican and Democrat governors to advise them on flooding issues in the Metro East,” he wrote. “Despite keeping a very busy schedule at age 87 Mrs. Hawkins always has a smile, looks at the good in every person and is deeply engaged in the many issues that interest her.

“There is really no way to describe the impact that Mrs. Hawkins has had on her community and our State,” he said.

Madison County Board Member Helen Hawkins, D-Granite City, holds an old project map for the East Side Levee and Sanitary District. Hawkins was one of three new appointees to the Metro East Sanitary District board at a Madison County Board meeting last year. Hawkins is to be inducted into the Illinois Senior Citizen Hall of Fame in February.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TEL011618helenhawkins.jpgMadison County Board Member Helen Hawkins, D-Granite City, holds an old project map for the East Side Levee and Sanitary District. Hawkins was one of three new appointees to the Metro East Sanitary District board at a Madison County Board meeting last year. Hawkins is to be inducted into the Illinois Senior Citizen Hall of Fame in February. Scott Cousins | The Telegraph